Betta flew hard on his set path for just under two weeks before he arrives at Tree City. He arrives late in the night; with urgency he lands on the old platform at the top of the city.
Now that he has arrived, he realizes he doesn’t know what to do. In his rush all his thoughts were on arriving… Now what?
“You made it!” Betta hears a faint voice off to his side.
He turns to see an old man sitting at a desk of some sort.
“How did you know I was coming?”
“I gave you directions just under two weeks ago.”
“What? You’re trying to tell me that you’re…”
“Jackson. That’s me.”
“Jackson was a boy, you’re an old man.”
“Yes, the way you perceive me has changed, I have not.”
“If you’re Jackson, what are you doing here?”
“Two things, First I am on my mission to speak to the King. Second is to give you the information you weren’t ready for when we last spoke.”
“How do you know all this stuff?”
“I’ve told you, I’m the same person you saw on the plains. I’m the boy you knew as Jackson.”
Betta takes a moment to look over the old man. He has all the correct information, but he is clearly playing a game with him.
“Tell the truth old man.”
“The truth is your friend is in grave danger, you need to fly to him and save him as soon as you can.”
“What friend?”
“Zyno, the one Ayepex sent to Pensa. He needs your help.”
“How do you know any of that information?”
“I deal in information because the world is changing. Your alliance with the boy at the forge is ushering in a new era. Forces are already rising against you to make sure you are stopped. You must tread carefully.”
“You’re not answering the question!”
“And you’re not listening to what I am saying. I told you that your friend is in grave danger and you are his only hope.”
“What can I do? He’s two months away?”
“No, I can get you there sooner, but first I need to tell you the information you weren’t ready for two weeks ago.”
“What is it?”
“You’re a year early. You don’t need to be here now.”
“You or the kid couldn’t have told me that two weeks ago?” Betta says in anger.
“No, you were not ready.”
“How was I not ready to hear that? I could have been to Zyno by now!”
“No, the timing was wrong, you had to make this journey now.”
“WHY?!?”
“Because you had to know how to get here. A year from now you will need to race here and if you didn’t know the way then you wouldn’t have made it in time. But now you can; now you are ready.”
“What will be so urgent in a year?” Betta says in frustration,
“That I cannot tell you.”
“Why not?”
“You’re not ready for it.”
“You really are Jackson.” Betta says irritated.
“Yes I am.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It is not for you to know the details; you must play your part.”
Betta has felt uneasy since he first spoke to Jackson. He speaks just enough truth to hook Betta in, yet not enough details to have faith in him. His knowledge of the pact at the Great Forge is unsettling. Everything about him is strange. From his changing appearance to his strange speech.
“We will see old man.” Betta responds.
“Old man, you’re over two hundred years old.”
Again, more inside information that this man shouldn’t know.
“You are forgetting the task at hand. Zyno, is in danger and you must get to him immediately!” Jackson says.
“So you say, but again he’s months away from here.”
The old man leans back in his chair and stares off into the night sky. “I can get you there quickly. But you must listen to me very carefully, understand?”
“I understand.” Betta says in a doubtful tone.
“When you pop into the temple, you must fly southwest for an hour. Once you see the rock face let out one shout and wait for Zyno to respond. Fly to him and rescue him.”
“Why can’t he fly himself away.”
“Again, details you must wait for.”
“Fine, how do I get there?”
“With this.” The old man pulls out a blue stone. “You will rub this until it is activated. You will then transport to a forgotten temple in the western plateau. There is a red bowl in the room, you must leave the stone in it. That is the most important part, the use of the stone takes a heavy price, but I have paid it in full. To take the stone would bring a curse on you. LEAVE THE STONE!”
“I understand.”
“I don’t think you do, but we will see.”
The old man hands the stone over, it’s clearly valuable and old. This stone must be one of the old relics from before the war, if it is a magic stone at all.
“Do I just rub it now?”
“No, you must leave now, it is time for me to complete my mission. Fly into the night sky, you can activate it in the air. Go now! He’s here.”
Betta flies into the sky, he quickly rises into the darkness but looks back down to the old man. Someone else is on the platform now. Betta watches for a moment as he begins to rub the stone.
“What is that?” the new person says.
“It’s the light of Meego. Beautiful isn’t it?” Jackson replies.
Betta pops out of the sky; he is standing in the temple that the old man said he would be in. He takes steps to the door quickly. Just before he steps out of the temple, he stops. He looks down at the stone in his hand.
“I’ll be cursed.” He says to himself.
Betta turns around and sees the large red bowl in the room. It is faded and dusty. No one has been in the temple for a very long time. It really is a forgotten place.
Betta steps over to the bowl. He looks inside and sees it is half full of stones. He pauses a second before he drops his stone inside.
He makes his way out of the temple, to his surprise it’s daylight, the early morning because the second sun isn’t visible yet. He finds his heading and flies as fast as he can.
Relics of the Old Age 